Unexpected Economics – Timothy Taylor

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Exploring the Essential Features of “Unexpected Economics – Timothy Taylor”

Unexpected Economics
Utilize economic thinking to illuminate a wide range of topics not typically understood to be economic in nature-from how we choose a mate to why we vote the way we do.

LECTURE

Trailer
  
01:The World of Choices
In this introductory lecture, encounter a definition of economics far broader than the one understood by most people. Also, learn that economics is about the choices you make in every aspect of life, their consequences, and the degree to which the realm of choice itself is larger than you would think. 
32 min

02:A Market for Pregnancy
History demonstrates that most people are creatures of their own time in terms of what they will accept as appropriate economic transactions. Focus on three once-banned examples now seen as partly or completely ordinary: interest payments, life insurance, and the so-called “baby market.”
28 min

03:Selling a Kidney
The discussion of forbidden transactions continues with a provocative look at the controversy over the buying and selling of human organs like kidneys or livers. No matter where you stand on the issue, this consideration of benefits and costs offers a fresh perspective from which to consider your views of medicine and longevity.
32 min

04:Traffic Congestion-Costs, Pricing, and You
Can economic analysis do anything about traffic? This free-wheeling examination of the choices that produce both the problem and solution reveals an example of the “tragedy of the commons” and looks at how the city of London addressed the issue with a strategy of “congestion pricing.”
28 min

05:Two-Way Ties between Religion and Economics
Although links between religion and economics may seem counterintuitive to many, the possibility has interested economists ever since the work of Adam Smith. This lecture explores how several different aspects of religion may in fact contribute to the underpinnings of the real-world economy.
31 min

06:Prediction Markets-Windows on the Future
Can the likelihood of a future event be predicted? If so, how? Plunge into the world of prediction markets, where people place bets on what will happen, and get some surprising answers-in areas that include elections, Oscar winners, and the performance of new products.
29 min

07:Pathways for Crime and Crime Fighting
Step beyond the traditional nature-versus-nurture argument about the causes of crime to examine the problem from an economic perspective. Grasp how incentives and tradeoffs affect the decisions of both criminals and law enforcement and how policymakers might better take them into account.
30 min

08:Terrorism as an Occupational Choice
Is there a causal relationship between poverty and terrorism, or a pathway to terrorism originating in a lack of education? Discover some surprising answers as you turn your attention to the choices and incentives economists find when examining how terrorism and its practitioners find each other.
32 min

09:Marriage as a Search Market
By looking at the many factors that go into marriage-from the “market” where people find their spouses to the forces that influence their choices about remaining together or splitting apart-you’ll gain fresh insight into why marriage patterns have shifted so dramatically.
31 min

10:Procreation and Parenthood
Beginning with the work of Thomas Malthus, explore the many ways in which our child-bearing patterns have changed, including a current theory that actually sees children as a kind of luxury good, where an increase in income translates into an even higher investment in one’s children.
28 min

11:Small Choices and Racial Discrimination
Take a close look at how discrimination against African Americans manifests itself in various markets. Learn about the different analytical perspectives set forth by economists like Becker, Schelling, and Arrow; the impact of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and three different approaches to achieving equality.
32 min

12:Cooperation and the Prisoner’s Dilemma
A discussion of the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma and its application to the market economy leads to a surprising conclusion: Competition and cooperation are not opposites. Instead, they are interlocking, with market competition the ultimate example of socially cooperative behavior.
27 min

13:Fairness and the Ultimatum Game
Turn your focus to the world of “laboratory economics,” where game exercises like the “ultimatum game,” “dictator,” “punishment,” “trust,” “gift exchange,” and others help cast fresh light on key aspects of economic behavior. Learn how perceived fairness and other motivating factors can affect real-life markets. 
30 min

14:Myopic Preferences and Behavioral Economics
Myopia can refer to more than eyesight. Grasp the impact of setting aside the long-term view in favor of the shorter one, a pattern whose consequences can be seen not only in personal finance, but in health care, time management, and many other aspects of behavior.
30 min

15:Altruism, Charity, and Gifts
Is charity always altruistic, or is giving really motivated by disguised self-interest? Examine the many possible motivations for charity, societal steps to support it, and the imbalances that occur when a recipient’s valuation of a gift is markedly different from that of the giver.
32 min

16:Loss Aversion and Reference Point Bias
How a choice is framed significantly affects which alternative is chosen, even when either will produce identical results. Grasp why this is so through concepts like loss aversion and reference dependence, and see how public “nudge” policies might be used to influence those choices.
29 min

17:Risk and Uncertainty
An eye-opening exploration of how economists see risk introduces behavioral descriptions like risk-neutral, risk-seeking, and risk-averse, along with the most useful way to realistically evaluate probabilities and make decisions. Learn how this knowledge factors into public policy subjects like energy and finance.
32 min

18:Human Herds and Information Cascades
Most of us understandably “run with the herd” when making decisions outside our personal expertise. Although this often leads to correct choices, it can also draw us astray. Learn the dangers of “information cascades” and how to avoid joining herds headed in disastrous directions.
30 min

19:Addiction and Choice
In a provocative examination of a controversial subject, learn how some economists have analyzed drug addiction as a chosen behavior-and therefore subject to analysis of costs, benefits, and incentives, much like any other personal choice.
30 min

20:Obesity-Who Bears the Costs?
American men and women have both gained an average of more than 20 pounds since the early 1960s. Address the reasons for this increase, the role played by economic factors, and the implications for public policy, including who really pays the costs obesity imposes.
32 min

21:The Economics of Natural Disasters
The damage natural disasters do to people and property is not just a matter of fate. Explore how the answers to economic questions about socially appropriate investments in advance planning and preparation for rapid response can influence the impact of a natural disaster.
30 min

22:Sports Lessons-Pay, Performance, Tournaments
Although sports account for a far less significant piece of the economy than most people assume, it does provide economists with especially clear examples with much broader applicability. Grasp what sports can teach us about issues like pay and promotion, valuing talent, and providing incentives for top performance.
30 min

23:Voting, Money, and Politics
What happens when voting-its costs, incentives, even its very rationality-is subjected to the scrutiny of economists? Understand the real impacts on this defining principle of democracy from factors like voter ignorance, money, special interests, and turnout.
31 min

24:The Pursuit of Happiness
If happiness is indeed the ultimate incentive for the choices we make, is there any way to measure it? This concluding lecture examines several ways in which economists have sought to define and measure this elusive goal and the ways in which the results might influence our choices.
34 min

DETAILS

Overview

Grasp as never before the ways in which economics operates in areas you may never have considered. Delivered by acclaimed economist and Professor Timothy Taylor, the 24 lectures of Unexpected Economics offer a wide-ranging investigation of how economic thinking&;amp;-whether applied personally, nationally, or globally&;amp;-relates to, and sheds fresh light on, just about everything. Using findings from recent Nobel Prize winners and leading-edge fields like behavioral economics, Professor Taylor explores the economics behind subjects such as discrimination, natural disasters, charity, and even terrorism.

About
Timothy Taylor
 My wife says that I am an evangelist, with economics as my religion. I’m not sure this is altogether a good thing! But maybe it explains my enthusiasm for prepping and giving these lectures. 

Professor Timothy Taylor is Managing Editor of the prominent Journal of Economic Perspectives, published by the American Economic Association. He earned his Master’s degree in Economics from Stanford University.

Professor Taylor has won student-voted teaching awards for his Introductory Economics classes at Stanford University. At the University of Minnesota, he was named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Department of Economics and voted Teacher of the Year by the Master’s degree students at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

In 2007, Professor Taylor published the first Principles of Economics textbook, available as a free download from Freeload Press. He has also edited a wide range of books and reports and published articles on globalization, the new economy, and outsourcing. From 1989 to 1997, Professor Taylor wrote an economics opinion column for the San Jose Mercury-News.

REVIEWS

Hotel Whiskey
Mesa AZ
A really interesting take.
This course is loaded with insights on a very broad range of human activity. My favorite lectures: #6 Prediction Markets –Windows on the Future, #13 Fairness and the Ultimatum Game, and #14 Myopic Preferences and Behavioral Economics. This is definitely a thought-provoking course. HWF & ISF, Mesa AZ

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